Dr. Alexandra Vacroux served for 15 years as the Davis Center's executive director and as a driving force behind our REECA master's program in regional studies. Her scholarly work addresses Russian and Eurasian policy issues, including the war in Ukraine. As director of graduate studies for REECA, she has mentored dozens of Harvard’s best and brightest students and regional experts. She was also the founding director of the center's Scholars Without Borders program.
In her role as vice president for strategic engagement at the Kyiv School of Economics, Alexandra helps this leading Ukrainian educational institution expand its engagement with top faculty, schools, and programs around the world, further strengthening KSE as a platform for nurturing Ukraine’s human capital as the country recovers from Russia’s invasion.
Alexandra lived in Moscow from 1992 to 2004. While there she was a consultant for the Russian Privatization Agency, partner and head of sales at the Brunswick Warburg investment bank, and an active member of the board of United Way Moscow. While completing her dissertation on corruption in Russian pharmaceutical markets she was affiliated with the Center for Economic and Financial Research (CEFIR), a Russian think tank associated with the New Economic School. Prior to joining the Davis Center in 2010 she lived in Washington, DC, where she was a scholar at the Kennan Institute, part of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
She holds a Ph.D. in government from Harvard University.
